40 Years Ago: King Crimson Release ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’

King Crimson‘s fifth studio album, ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic,’ is a pinnacle of progressive rock, even though its music is nearly unclassifiable. Now 40 years after its original release, it remains a genre unto itself — a mish-mash of heavy and soothing, beautiful and unsettling, experimental and melodic.

‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ is King Crimson’s second truly classic album. With 1969′s groundbreaking ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ the band basically invented progressive rock entirely, utilizing bandleader Robert Fripp’s epic approach to song construction, which layered aggressive fretwork with propulsive rhythms, jazzy woodwinds, and the most iconic Mellotron sound ever laid to tape.

But just as soon as King Crimson birthed an exciting new musical movement, they retreated to the shadows. The band’s following trio of albums (1970′s ‘In the Wake of Poseidon,’ 1970′s ‘Lizard’ and ‘Islands’ in 1971) were scattered with brilliance, but mostly just . . . scattered, with Fripp unable to maintain a consistent lineup of players from one release to another (or even track to track).

That pattern ended in 1972, when Fripp started recruiting a brand new lineup — one designed for an edgier, more unpredictable style of playing. He brought in two new drummers, designed to represent polar opposite ends of the percussive spectrum: Jamie Muir — an explosive percussionist with an unconventional approach and wild stage presence — and Bill Bruford, who’d already established his jazzy, inventive approach to drumming as a member of Yes. On top of that double-percussion foundation, Fripp added violinist David Cross and bassist/vocalist John Wetton.

That quintet lineup quickly earned rave reviews for their highly improvised live shows. In the liner notes to the 2012 ‘Larks’ Tongues’ reissue, Wetton reflected on the intensity of those early performances. “A lot of the time,” he said, “the audience couldn’t really tell the difference between what was formal and what wasn’t because the improvising was of a fairly high standard. It was almost telepathic at times.”

Capturing the magic of those shows in the studio proved problematic in the album’s early recording sessions, and technical difficulties only added further strain. “Things were constantly blowing up,” Wetton reflected. “We had the engineer, God bless him, who’d never done an edit before.” But those stressful sessions resulted in incredible music, from the tense, textured funkiness of ‘Easy Money‘ to the graceful, backward-masked beauty of ‘Book of Saturday‘ to the split, two-part instrumental title track, which veers from metal-tinged chromatic riffing to exotic, interlocking percussion.

That lineup wouldn’t stick around long enough to record another album. Burned out from a grueling tour schedule, Muir soon departed the band in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. The remaining quartet released 1974′s ‘Starless and Bible Black,’ and Fripp subsequently whittled the band down to a trio (along with Bruford and Wetton) for the raw, bone-rattling ‘Red’ later that year, marking a whole new chapter of prog-rock brilliance.

Welcome back to 107.9 The River

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your points and personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your points, prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to 107.9 The River

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://theriver1079.com using your original account information.